Once in a Lifetime
by gleekyk
Summary: Set before Mexico. Jason and Sam rebuilding their friendship. I suck at summaries! There's some Spixie too, of course.
1. A Chance Encounter

**A/N: Hi there. I used to write General Hospital fanfictions for my own enjoyment all the time, but I haven't wrote one in a very long time. Anyway, I decided to write and publish this one. It's set before Mexico when Jason and Sam had that cute little thing going on where we all knew they were going to get back together, but they didn't know it yet. Anyway, I hope you like it, but if you don't, well that's okay too. :D**

Spinelli had always known that if one person was perfect for Jason Morgan, it was Sam McCall, and it wasn't just because these were the two people that he considered to be his best friends. When he met Sam and Jason they were together, and it seemed to him that when they were together, nothing else mattered. Not Jason's job, which most women ran far away from, not Sam's past, which was sketchy to say the least. When they were together, Spinelli couldn't help but notice, every thing else was just a small detail.

Of course, it had been a long time since his dear friends were happy together, but that didn't stop Spinelli, and his dear Maxamista from contemplating and hoping that one day they would find their way back to each other.

"I'm not so sure about this." Spinelli said, skeptically. "Stone Cold would be rather upset if he knew that we were meddling in such personal matters."

Maxie rolled her eyes. "Well we have to do something, Sam's been miserable lately and I think that Jason might be just the thing to cheer her up."

"Are we sure that this is what Stone Cold and Faire Samantha want, though?"

Maxie gave him a sweet smile. "Spinelli, Sam and Jason aren't like other people that happen to end up together for a while. They're the kind of love that only happens… once in a lifetime. They'll never be happier than they are when they're with each other. We wouldn't be good friends if we let them throw this out the window."

"Once in a lifetime?" Spinelli confirmed.

Maxie nodded. "Just like you and me. Even if they don't know that this is what they want right now, they'll thank us for it later."

Spinelli considered this, and he couldn't see Sam or Jason ending up with anyone that wasn't each other. It was his duty-nay his honor-to insure that his dear friends found the happiness and love that they both deserved. The kind that only came once in a lifetime.

"Okay." Spinelli said, making up his mind. "What's the plan again?"

"Okay." Maxie said, excited that Spinelli was on board. "So I'm going to call Sam and tell her that I need her to meet me at Jake's immediately. I'll tell her it's a girl emergency. Sam of course will come, but I wont be there… Jason will."

"And how exactly are we going to lure Stone Cold there?"

Maxie shrugged. "I'm getting Sam there. I think you can handle Jason. Besides, I don't think that girl emergencies will work on him."

"Yes." Spinelli agreed. "And no offence, but I do not believe that Stone Cold would be willing to aid you, unless of course, it was a dire circumstance."

"So that's why you're going to ask him if he wants to go out for beers."

Spinelli narrowed his eyes. "This isn't going to work."

"Why not?" Maxie whined. That was the last thing she wanted to hear when one of her plans were about to be set into motion.

"Stone Cold and I have never gone out for beers. He'll think it's rather… odd."

Maxie huffed. "Just figure something out Spinelli."

"Figure what out?" Jason asked, closing the door behind him.

Maxie began a story about how the computers at Kate's office kept making a weird beeping noise, and it was distracting her at work. Jason cut her off before she could go into detail about what would happen if Kate thought that she wasn't doing her best at work.

"Never mind." Jason said, putting his hand up.

"Right." Maxie said, patting herself on the back for her ability to think on her feet. "Well I better go. I'm meeting an old friend." She grinned, wanting to tell Jason that he was about to meet an old friend as well.

"So, Stone Cold." Spinelli said awkwardly, after seeing Maxie out. "I was um, what were your- Do you want to drink beer?"

"Spinelli, what are you talking about?"

"Well I was thinking that maybe we could go out tonight, you know, to Jake's perhaps and drink beer."

"I don't think I've ever seen you drink beer." Jason said skeptically.

"Well, I'm trying to do new things." He said with a shrug. "And I thought that beer would be a nice place to start." He knew that he was really bad at this. He wished that he had Maxie's communication skills sometimes. "And I thought that perhaps we could spend some quality mentor/mentored time together."

Jason sighed. "Yeah, lets go."

"Not now." Spinelli said, probably too quickly. "I mean, I have urgent matters to attend to at the office first. Shall we meet at Jake's around… nine?" He went over all the details in his head to make sure that everything was just as Maxie had told him.

"Yeah, whatever." Jason said. "I have a feeling that you're up to something though." He said in a warning tone. "You and Maxie aren't planning anything, right?"

"No sir." Spinelli said quickly, not looking him in the eye. "Well I have to go. I'll see you tonight." He slipped out of the room before Jason could question him further.

Spinelli made his way across town to Maxie's apartment, letting himself in. "The deed is done. Jason will be at Jake's at nine tonight."

Maxie smiled approvingly. "I knew that you'd be able to get him there. I was just about to call Sam."

She picked up her phone and called the familiar number. "Maxie, what's up?" Sam's voice said on the other line.

"Sam, I need you to meet me at Jake's. Now."

"Why?" Sam asked, not seeming to be too concerned.

"I'm having such a horrible day between work and everything else. I just need someone to talk to." If Spinelli didn't know better he would have actually believed her.

"Okay." Sam sighed. "Let me get changed and I'll meet you there in fifteen."

"Ooo!" Maxie exclaimed. "Wear something really sexy. Like that cute little black dress that I bought you for your birthday. And the red heels that I like so much."

"I'm hanging up now." Sam said. It wasn't unusual for Maxie to try and dress her. In fact, she would probably have been worried if Maxie had told her just to throw something on. For some reason, Sam actually pulled out the black dress that Maxie had gotten for her. She hadn't worn it yet. There had never been the right occasion. It was much too, as Maxie would put it, sexy, for a family gathering, and she hadn't exactly been on many dates in the last few months.

She shrugged and put it on. She tried it on before, when Maxie first gave it to her, and though she definitely didn't plan on letting her sisters borrow in anytime soon, it did show off many of her best features.

"Who knows." She said out loud, slipping on her red heels. "Maybe I'll meet the man of my dreams tonight."

-xxx-

Sam had been waiting at Jake's for nearly ten minutes, and she wasn't exactly thrilled about it. She texted Maxie for the third time, asking her where she was. Though Sam was many things, patient wasn't one of them.

She knew that she made the right outfit choice from the second she walked in and Coleman insisted that she drink free tonight.

She was on her second whiskey sour already. When she got impatient, she usually drank. "I'm going to be wasted before Maxie even gets here." Sam told Coleman. "Are you sure you haven't seen her? I told her fifteen minutes."

"I haven't seen the Jones girl, but there's someone behind you who I think you'd be happy to see."

Sam turned around to see Jason Morgan standing directly behind her, and now looking her square in the eyes.

After their break up, Jason and Sam weren't exactly friends. In fact, they barely even spoke to each other aside from a few awkward encounters when he would come to her office or she would come to his penthouse, looking for Spinelli.

"Jason." She said, shocked. "Um… hi."

"I like your dress." He said.

"Thanks." She said, with an awkward smile. "Maxie bought it for me for my birthday."

"Mind if I sit?" He asked, motioning towards the empty bar stood next to her.

"Yeah-I mean… no. I mean sit."

"You're probably waiting for a date." Jason said, taking the seat next to her.

She shook her head. "I'm actually supposed to be meeting Maxie here."

Jason smiled. "I think that they tricked us?"

Sam narrowed her eyes.

"I'm supposed to meet Spinelli here." Jason explained. "I think that maybe Maxie and Spinelli invited us here under false pretenses. They've been telling to call you for weeks now."

"Oh." Sam said, cursing Maxie for putting her in this situation. "I'm sorry, you can leave. You don't have to humor them."

"Maybe we should catch up." Jason said, hoping that he wasn't pushing things. He certainly didn't want to make Sam uncomfortable. "It's been so long since I've talked to you, and I'd like to know how you're doing."

"I'm doing good." She said, grinning and ordering another drink. "Work's good. We've actually been pretty busy lately." She wished that she had something to tell him about that wasn't her job, but the truth was, that was her entire life lately.

"Anything serious?"

"No, mostly just cheating husbands, but it could be worse."

"I'm glad that you and Spinelli are doing so well with your business.' He said honestly. "I know that it's what makes you happy."

"It does make me happy." She assured him. "I'm really happy." The last part was kind of a lie.

"I'm glad." he said. "No matter how we ended things… I do want you to be happy."

"I think we're past all of that." Sam said confidently. "All of the fighting and the crying. I hope were over it all at least."

"Yeah. Maybe we can get to a point where we can be friends. Maybe if not friends then we can be friendly."

"That would probably mean a lot to Spinelli and Maxie." She said, not really caring in the moment what it meant to them. "I mean we're both apart of their lives and I'm sure that it's not easy for us to be on bad terms."

"We're not on bad terms." He said quickly.

She smiled. "Okay, Morgan." She offered her hand. "Friends?"

He shook her hand, though it didn't feel right. Those were the hands that he used to hold. He should be at the very least hugging her, but she was in control, and if it was a hand that she offered then it was her hand that he took. "Friends."

They had the kind of love that was once in a lifetime, but neither one of them were brave enough to admit that yet, so a handshake in a crowded bar would have to be enough.

**A/N: Thank you for reading! I really appreciate it. I want to say sorry if I made any grammar mistakes or typos. I'm not a very good proofreader. I'll be writing a second chapter shortly**


	2. Who's Bed Am I In?

**A/N: Sorry this took so long. Really I am! I'm a college student, so that's my excuse. Anyway, thank you for reading, and if you review, thank you for that too. ;) I hope that the flashbacks don't confuse you. I tried to make them easy to understand. Also, as always, sorry for any mistakes. I'm an awful proof reader.**

"Okay, where am I?" Sam said out loud, as the memories from last night began flooding back slowly. The room was familiar, although it had been changed a bit from the version that lived in her memory. She knew she was in Jason Morgan's room. In Jason Morgan's _bed_. Sam closed her eyes as tight as she could, trying to remember what happened last night.

"This can't be happening she mumbled under her breath."

"You're awake." Jason said from the door way. "You okay?"

She opened her eyes. "What um… what happened last night?"

"You had a little too much to drink."

"Well the pounding headache and need to ask you what happened last night kind of gave that away." She said snidely. "I'm sorry." She said, after a deep breath. "I'm just-"

"It's fine." Jason interrupted her. "What do remember last?"

"Well Maxie and Spinelli tried to set us up, because while they mean well, they like to meddle in our personal lives more than they should. Then, we decided to make the most of the situation, and we agreed to try and build a friendship again."

Jason smiled, something that, though it was rare for most people, Sam had seen a lot in her lifetime. "Too bad you don't remember last night, we did a lot of rebuilding."

Her face dropped. "Jason, we didn't- Oh god, this is awful. No. This is a horrible horrible awful idea."

"Sam what are you-"

"We didn't work out for a reason, I mean, not that I'm angry at you because we didn't work out, because I'm not, I'm not even bitter anymore it's just that-"

"Sam, it's not like-"

"But to be honest. I'm a little angry now. I mean, really Jason, you even said that you knew I drank to much, but I never thought that you would be the kind of guy to take advantage of something like that."

"Sam!" Jason said, loud enough to get her to stop talking. "I didn't… we didn't."

"Oh." Sam said embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I went off like that. I just haven't drank this much in a long time."

He shrugged. "You were uncomfortable. I'm sure the alcohol helped."

"Okay." She said, getting back on track. "So we agreed to be friends. Then… Then…" She snapped her fingers. "I remember what happened next."

"_Coleman, can I get another drink, please?" Sam said, wearing her flirtatious smile._

"_Woah." Jason said. "You might want to take it easy there. That's the third one since I've gotten here."_

_Sam rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Jason, you sound like Alexis right now. There's nothing wrong with having fun every once and while. I mean it's not like I do this every night, right?"_

_Jason shrugged. He knew that with Sam, you have to pick and chose your battles, and he figured that he would let her have this one._

Sam laughed a little at the memory. "I had more before you got there too." She admitted. "I was a little bit tipsy.

"Do you remember what you made me do next?" He asked, not smiling.

"I actually have no idea." She said with a shrug.

"Think long and hard."

"I don't remember."

He sighed. "Does the song Brown-Eyed Girl do anything?"

"_Come on Jason, lets dance."_

"_No." he insisted, planted firmly on his stool._

_She got up and grabbed his hands. "Come on, Jason. It'll be fun."_

"_I don't dance!"_

"_That doesn't mean that you can't dance. Come on. This is an essential to friendship, don't you know anything?"_

"_I've never danced with Spinelli." He pointed out to her._

"_Well that's different because Spinelli isn't an awesome dancer."_

"_And you are?"_

"_Uh, yes." She pulled his hands harder. "Now, come on. Before the song ends."_

"_I can't believe that I'm doing this." He said, standing up. He allowed Sam to pull him to the middle of the bar, away from the comfort of his beer and seat. He put his left hand on her waist and took her right in his hand. When he and Sam were together, it always came down to this. He hated to dance, and she loved to, so she would beg him, and eventually he would give in and dance with her._

_The truth was, after a minute, Jason always started to enjoy it too. Of course he never admitted that to her. If she knew that he secretly liked dancing when they were together, his life would have consisted of nothing else._

"_Is this okay?" He said in her ear. He was always self conscious while dancing. He thought that every movement he made was wrong somehow._

"_Yeah." She said back. She let go of his hand, and out both of her's around his neck, while he placed his other hand on the other side of her hip. Because of how drunk she was at this point in the night, it turned more into Jason holding Sam up so she didn't fall, and Sam laughing uncontrollably. Jason didn't mind though. He figured that he owed her a dance, might as well get it over with. (At least, that's what he would say if anybody asked.)_

"I made you dance." Sam said apologetically. He sat on the edge of his bed, that she had laid back down on.

"I wasn't that bad." He admitted. "I mean, it was as good as dancing can get, I guess."

"You liked it." She said with a grin. "I know you did. You were smiling."

She shook his head in disbelief. "You can't remember how you got here, but you remember my smile?"

"Speaking of how I got here, how did I get here?" She asked.

"I called us a cab." He said. "I just thought that because you were so… you know… drunk, it would be better if you stayed here. Nothing happened, though." He reassured her. "I slept on the couch."

"Wait." She said. "I think I remember this."

_Jason holding her up was the only reason that Sam wasn't on the ground as he directed her towards the cab._

"_I'm sorry about this." She said, as he set her down in the seat next to him._

"_Sorry about what?"_

"_I mean, I know this isn't what you expected, and we're trying to be friends, or whatever, again. This probably isn't the best way to start it off."_

"_It's okay, Sam." He assured her. "Maybe you should stay at my house tonight. I don't feel comfortable leaving you alone like this."_

"_Aw." she said, giggling. "You don't want me to die of alcohol poisoning."_

"_Of course I don't." He said._

"_You wanted me to die once." She said. She wasn't giggling anymore, but she was still smiling._

"_No, I didn't." he said, seriously._

"_Oh yes you did." She said, rolling her eyes. "You know that you hated me for a while there."_

"_I never wanted anything bad to happen to you." He said comfortingly. "I promise that no matter what happened between us, and no matter what I said, I never wished anything but the best for you."_

"_That's good." she said. "Because for a long time I kind of thought that you hated me. Not that I would have blamed you. I was kind of awful."_

"_I'm sorry if ever made you feel like that, but despite everything that… happened. I don't hate you."_

_She smiled. "Well this is news to me. I'll remember you said that next time Brown-Eyed Girl comes on."_

Sam smiled thinking about their drunken conversation. "I'm glad we're friends." She said.

He nodded. "Me too."

"But wait. I passed out on the couch. I remember. It was as soon as we got back here."

"Well the couch didn't look very comfortable."

"Oh yeah." She said, smiling. "I forgot that you have like super human strength."

As they were laughing and reminiscing, they didn't notice that Maxie had slipped out of Spinelli's room and was standing in the doorway to Jason's.

"Oh my gosh." She squealed. "I knew that this would work. I just knew it. Spinelli wasn't sure, but I knew that all you guys needed a little push."

Sam sat up. "No, Maxie it's really not what it looks like."

"Oh shut up, it's exactly what it looks like. You spent the night, didn't you Sam?"

"I slept on the couch." Jason said annoyed. "Nothing happened between us, Sam was too drunk and if anything happened then I would have been taking advantage."

"We decided to be friends." Sam added.

Maxie shrugged. "You decided to be friends for now, but trust me. That won't last long."

"Enough Maxie." Jason said.

"I'm just saying." Maxie said with a smile. "It's okay though, you guys belong together. You just don't know it yet." She walked off happily.

"I'm sorry about her." Sam said. "She mean well. She really does."

"Maxie's never been very good at minding her own business." Jason said, "But I wish that she would learn."

Sam smiled. "Don't be mad at her."

"I'm not." He said


End file.
